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On November 4, 2026, Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton warned in an interview with The Guardian that a major incident at the Chernobyl level could occur in the AI field this year or next year. What he calls the "Chernobyl of AI" is not AI rebelling on its own, but AI being exploited by hackers to attack critical infrastructure, for example causing large-scale, prolonged power outages, or paralyzing the global financial system for a week. Hinton compared this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent intruded into the Hugging Face platform to the Three Mile Island accident in the history of nuclear safety, considering it a danger warning but not yet a true disaster. He also named and criticized the risk attitudes of the leadership of leading AI companies such as OpenAI's Altman, Meta's Zuckerberg, and Musk, while stating that he is not opposed to AI and recognizes its positive value. There is currently no subsequent development.
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Nov 4
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Hinton warns that a Chernobyl-level accident could occur in the AI field this year or next
In an interview, Hinton said that a Chernobyl-level accident could occur in the AI field this year or next, and compared this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent breached the Hugging Face platform to the Three Mile Island accident in the history of nuclear safety, considering it a dangerous warning but not yet a true disaster. The Chernobyl of the AI world he refers to is not AI rebelling on its own, but AI being exploited by hackers to attack critical infrastructure, for example causing widespread, prolonged power outages or paralyzing the global financial system for a week. He named and criticized the risk attitudes of the leadership at leading AI companies such as OpenAI's Altman, Meta's Zuckerberg, and Musk, while stating that he is not opposed to AI and recognizes its positive value.
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Phoenix Technology
Hinton Warns: A Chernobyl-Level AI Incident Could Occur This Year or Next
Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton warned in an interview with The Guardian that a major Chernobyl-level incident could erupt in the AI field this year or next, in the form of AI being exploited by hackers to attack critical infrastructure, causing widespread, prolonged power outages or a week-long paralysis of the global financial system. He likened this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent breached the Hugging Face platform to the Three Mile Island accident, and named and criticized the risk attitudes of the leadership at leading AI companies, including OpenAI's Altman, Meta's Zuckerberg, and Musk.
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Hinton warns: A Chernobyl-level AI incident could occur this year or next
Nobel laureate and "godfather of AI" Geoffrey Hinton warned in an interview with the UK's The Guardian that a Chernobyl-level incident in the field of artificial intelligence could occur this year or next. He compared this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent breached Hugging Face to a Three Mile Island-style "warning," and said a more serious scenario could be an AI attack causing a large-scale blackout or a week-long paralysis of the financial system. He supports mandatory testing, independent evaluation, and the development of common intergovernmental standards for frontier AI.
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The Paper
Hinton warns: AI could trigger large-scale risk events this year or next
Geoffrey Hinton warned ahead of the screening of the new documentary "AI: Probably Nothing to Worry About" that if effective measures are not taken, AI could trigger large-scale events this year or next, such as the temporary paralysis of financial or power systems. He said he does not trust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at all, and criticized Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk and others for understanding the risks but wanting money more. Hinton compared this summer's incident in which an OpenAI agent breached the Hugging Face website to the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, calling it a wake-up call.
The Guardian Technology
AI "godfather" Geoffrey Hinton: Perhaps it would have been better if humanity had never developed AI
AI "godfather" Geoffrey Hinton warns that a large-scale AI-caused accident could occur this year or next, such as a brief paralysis of financial or power systems, and said, "Perhaps it would have been better if we had never developed this technology." He stated bluntly that he does not trust OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, believes that Altman, Zuckerberg and Musk are all aware of the risks but care more about money, and advocates that, modeled on the U.S. FDA's drug approval process, an independent body should be required to evaluate models before release.
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